In addition to fine quality and reputation of products that contribute to sales increases, other factors are obviously the appearance of the products and the sales presentation to customers, namely the packaging and advertising. This invention concerns the packaging for certain products where presentation to the customers is deemed to be a very important sales factor.
The products being packaged and displayed in the field of the present invention are audio speaker cables, interconnect cables for interconnecting audio, video and home entertainment systems including interconnects between TVs, VCRs, laser disc players, antennae, tape decks, amplifiers, etc. With high fidelity cables are similarly high quality connectors, often gold-plated. Finally, many of applicant's cables have unusually large diameter core wires and unusually large diameter transparent insulating jackets.
Another packaging objective is to provide high visibility of these cables and connectors in transparent packages with cables arranged in a compact yet highly attractive and high-tech style.
These objectives have been partially achieved with applicant's prior packaging as generally represented in applicant's U.S. Pat. Nos. D306,561, D328,248, D351,342 and 4,742,912.
In all these package designs a frontward directed generally circular shell or pancake-like projection is formed as a cavity or recess extending forward of the front part of the package. These shells are usually tapered to a smaller diameter at the most forward part, namely the bottom of the shell, which is then flat. The taper is used because it facilitates release of the shell from the mold, and the flat bottom is present because it is natural to terminate a cylinder with a flat end, it is the least expensive way for manufacture, and because alternative shapes were not contemplated.
Over a period of time and actual sales experience three problems have been discovered with these otherwise popular and successful package designs.
First, the flat front surface often reflects interior store lights in a way that either creates a glare, obstacle or distortion to good visibility and greatly detracts from the objective of an attractive and comfortably viewable display.
Second, the products put into these packages have become so numerous in models, styles and cable lengths that it is too expensive to create new packages for each variation.
Third, these are high quality, "high end" products usually costing more than traditional and generic speaker and connector cables. Traditionally, these products are in sealed display packages, being sealed by techniques such as riveting or heat sealing; however, customers of these premium products not only want to see them very clearly, they often want to "touch" them before deciding to purchase. Applicant wanted a display package that was more attractive than prior designs and was sealable, unsealable for intimate examination and resealable, while not losing its attractiveness.